The Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board (PAAB) recently released a revised version of its Code of Advertising Acceptance. As of July 1, 2013, the PAAB will apply this revised Code to all newly submitted advertising and promotion systems (APS). For all marketing materials currently in circulation, there will be a transition period ending July 1, 2014 for compliance with the new version of the Code.
The PAAB is an independent review agency whose primary role is to ensure that advertising directed to health-care professionals for prescription, non-prescription, biological and natural health products is accurate, balanced and evidence-based, and reflects current and best practices.
Internet and Social Media
The most significant amendments to the Code reflect the increased use of the Internet and social media platforms to advertise to health-care professionals. First, the term "social media" is now defined in section 11 of the Code to mean:
Section 6.5 of the Code specifically addresses the concerns of using these technology platforms to advertise health-care products to health-care professionals. For instance, section 6.5.2 of the Code now states that the name of the pharmaceutical company that sponsors any of the online media platforms covered by the definition above should be stated on every page of the website controlled by the sponsor, unless use of the company name is prohibited by regulatory requirements. Furthermore, section 6.5.9 states that the sponsors of websites that allow user-generated content must monitor these pages, provide terms and conditions to users who engage in commentary, and describe the types of comments that will be modified or removed from the site.
Another important amendment to the Code speaks to the current practice of attaching a copy of the product's prescribing information to any advertisement for that product. Section 7.3.1 of the revised Code permits the advertising company to provide either a URL or a direct link to the product's Terms of Market Authorization (TMA) as approved by Health Canada, in place of the prescribing information. It should be noted that the linked webpage need not be reviewed under section 7.3.2b of the Code if no additional advertising content, other than a corporate logo and tagline, is displayed on the page. If there is additional advertising content, then the PAAB must review the linked page.
Definitions and Interpretations
With respect to definitions contained in the Code, section 11 has been significantly amended to clarify a number of terms. The revised definitions section includes new definitions for terms such as "fair balance," "healthcare professional," "marketing benefit claim," "prescribing information," and the aforementioned "social media." Furthermore, section 2.10 has been amended to clarify "authorized use" and what is required for an advertisement to be misleading.
The PAAB has developed several guidance documents to assist interpretation of the revised Code. These documents are all available on its website, www.paab.ca. Additionally, in-person and online training sessions are also offered. The in-person sessions are currently scheduled to take place in Toronto and Montréal in late-February. Various online webinars are currently scheduled for early March.
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